Education · 1 of 5
The path
Six to seven years, and the master's degree is not optional.
- 1
High school diploma
Grade 12
Biology, psychology and English. Volunteer somewhere with children or older adults so you know what you are signing up for.
- 2
Bachelor's degree
4 years
Usually in communication sciences and disorders. If you major in something else you can still get in, but you will owe a year of prerequisite courses first.
- 3
Master's degree from an accredited program
2 years
Two years, with at least 400 supervised clinical hours built in, 375 of them working directly with clients. It must be accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology or you cannot be certified.
- 4
Pass the national exam
Final year
The Praxis test in speech-language pathology, taken near the end of the master's degree.
- 5
Clinical fellowship, then license
9 to 12 months
At least 36 weeks and 1,260 hours of paid, supervised full time work. Finish it and you can hold the CCC-SLP (Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology) and your state license.